DIY Cleaning Wipes: Safe, Cheap, and Easy

We have never used those prepackaged cleaning wipes in our house, but now that I’m cleaning up after a messy toddler’s meals three times a day, I can see the appeal. I use these DIY cleaning wipes to keep my one-year-old’s high chair tray clean, and they work great!

Why make DIY cleaning wipes?

Of course, it would be easier to just drop a few bucks on a container of Clorox wipes, but those things are bad news, and I don’t want nasty chemicals like chlorinated bleach anywhere near my baby.

The tutorial below is one that I wrote for Crafting a Green World’s Spring Cleaning Week, and I wanted to share it here since I know a lot of you are concerned about toxic chemicals in your homes. I hope you love these DIY cleaning wipes as much as I do!

OK! So we got the bad news out of the way, but there’s good news too! You can make your own homemade cleaning wipes that disinfect without polluting water, damaging muscle function, or disrupting hormones. They’re easy to make, and they cost less than the ones you buy at the store. BOOM! Get the recipe below.

1. Cut your flannel fabric into 15 6? squares. Use your sewing machine’s zigzag stitch or your serger to finish off the raw edges. You can also cut these out with pinking shears and skip the sewing all together! To make the wipe below, I cut a t-shirt and a piece of vintage linen to around 6? square, then serged them together, right sides out. You can also use rags or even plain old cut up t-shirts to make your wipes!

2. Place the wipes in a bowl large enough to hold them all. In a separate bowl, combine the water, soap, and lemon oil. Stir well, and pour the mixture over your wipes in the large bowl. Make sure the wipes get totally saturated, then wring out the excess liquid.

3. Store the wipes rolled up in your mason jar. Rolling them makes it easier to grab a single wipe when you need it.

4. If you’re using our printable label, print and cut it out, then wrap it around your mason jar, using the double-sided tape to secure it in place. Cover the label with a piece of packing tape to protect it (mostly) from moisture damage, and you’re ready to go!

I’m assuming you save up the used ones, wash them, and re-dampen them? Do you go through the jar quickly enough that they don’t ever become moldy or musty? The sample is two-sided — do you usually make them with two layers or one?

Yes, definitely! Use, wash, dry, reuse. :D I haven’t had a must or mold problem, but that’s a great point. I’ve always made them in small batches. You can really use and rags you have. I have those two-sided ones that I made but a cut up towel or cut up old tee also works fine. Let me know what you end up doing! I love seeing my projects in the wild.

Hi there! My name is Becky Striepe (rhymes with “sleepy”), and I am a crafts and food writer from Atlanta, Georgia with a passion for making our planet a healthier, happier, and more compassionate place to live. My mission is to make vegan food and crafts accessible to everyone! [read more...]

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